A deadly combination

 

Another addition to my Dirty Dozen (Revisited) collection on my blog. This is number 8.

The last one was about John Kapoor. Insys Therapeutics sparked the largest opioid crisis in U.S. history. You can read it from the archives if you missed it.

This story is about Joshua Dale Brown, who just about “takes the cake” for the worst offender of all time.

Why?

Brown is a 26-year-old man from Point Cook. He has worked in 24 daycare centers in Melbourne and Geelong over the past eight years. He faces charges for 73 sex offenses, including child rape, against eight children. The kids, aged five months to two years, were in his care. These charges include child rape.

He faces several charges, which include:

• Sexually penetrating a child under 12.

• Attempting to sexually penetrate a child under 12.

• Sexually assaulting a child under 16.

• Producing child abuse material.

• Transmitting child abuse material.

He has no criminal record and was not known to the police before. He had a valid ‘Working with Children Check,’ but it has since been canceled.

Brown also tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease. Authorities are testing 2000 children. These kids may have been exposed at the centers where he worked.

Troubled minds

A second man now faces charges for sex offenses and materials he had received from Brown on his personal devices. Australia has had a spate of childcare worker abuse lately.

Last year, I wrote about Ashley Griffith. He was a childcare worker and one of Australia’s worst pedophiles.

Queensland was shocked by Griffith’s actions. He pleaded guilty to 28 counts of rape involving girls aged three to five. These crimes occurred at childcare centres in Queensland from 2007 to 2022.

In October last year, two male childcare workers in Sydney faced charges for child sex abuse. This happened just days apart. The charges are for intentionally touching a child under 10 and for a sexual act done without consent.

I can’t grasp how anyone could abuse young children and feel pleasure from it. One has to question the minds of people who carry out such abuse.

It is a reality that male childcare workers are few in number. Yet, they account for most child sexual abuse cases.

A broken System

The Working With Children Check system has been described as a “farce”. Too many people (male workers) are slipping through the system and persist in an environment that feeds their sick urges.

To avoid looking discriminatory, male workers often face less scrutiny. This is made worse by the push for gender balance in childcare. Many believe that having male role models is especially beneficial.

Studies indicate that men with a sexual interest in children often work in roles with them. This includes jobs in early education and care. Recent data show that of these men, one in 20 men in Australia is a motivated offender. These men are sexually interested in children and have harmed them.

Research at the University of New South Wales looked into serial child sex offenders. This study focused on those in childcare settings, both in Australia and around the world. Of 87 confirmed child abuse cases of kids under five, five offenders were male and one was female. Together, they sexually abused at least 245 children.

The Victorian Education Department missed many reports of child sexual abuse by a school principal. One survivor called him a “psychopathic rapist.” Despite this, the department kept moving him to new jobs. This happened even after one school banned him from its grounds.

I am sure that there are many legitimate and caring male childcare workers. It will be tough for them to face the stigma and lack of trust that will arise from cases like Brown and Griffith.

In a world of equal opportunity, men should be able to take jobs usually held by women. The nursing industry has managed to make this possible. In the case of childcare, the system that manages and controls the suitability of workers. The system for reporting potential child abuse is also broken.

We’ll see if the governments can keep their promise to fix the broken system. Childcare is vital for families. It helps them keep two incomes when money is tight and living costs go up.

New rules, like banning personal mobile phones and requiring reports of physical and sexual assaults in childcare centers within 24 hours instead of seven days, aren’t enough.

Some evidence shows that staff often hesitate to raise concerns about male colleagues. They worry about being seen as discriminatory. Child sexual abuse by male staff can go unnoticed in childcare settings for a long time.

People who harm and abuse children and animals get little if any sympathy from me. I’m sorry, but that’s just how I feel.

For Brown, his fate will be decided when he faces trial in September. No matter if he’s seen as mentally fit for trial, families are still scarred by his actions.

If he isn’t mentally competent, they will most likely put him into another flawed and broken system in this country: mental health. That’s a whole other story.

Till next time,

Calvin